An ecstatic harinaam party and close to a hundred book distributors inundated the "dirtiest place on earth", a bus depot with buses arriving from various parts of India with pilgrims to Puri.
Leaving everyone with a Jagannath sticker, a lollipop and sets of Hindi and Bangla books, the sankirtan party cut through the filth of the material world, by following His Grace Vaisesika Prabhu's infallible four step method of book distribution.
Vaisesika Prabhu compared the material world to a filthy bus station. If it wasn't for Lord Chaitanya's sankirtan party, the conditioned souls would be stuck there forever.
The party proceeded to Danda bhanga, the spot of the enigmatic pastimes of the breaking of Lord Chaitanya's sanyasa danda. This place represents the dichotomy of Mahaprabhu taking sanyasa, and his devotees wanting to offer him loving service.
On the serene banks of the Danda-banga river, Vaisesika Prabhu spoke on the truth and significance of Advaita Acarya on His divine appearance day.
In the Mangalacarana to Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami explains that Advaita Acarya is the incarnation of Maha-vishnu and is non-different from Him.
He is also called Acarya because he teaches Krishna consciousness by holding open classes on Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam.
Being an expansion of the Supreme Lord, Advaita Acarya is in the mood of the servitor. The only expansions of the Lord who are not in the mood of a servant are the conditioned souls!
With deep compassion for the suffering conditioned souls of Kali-yuga, Advaita Acarya prayed hard for their deliverance. Hearing His loud cries, Lord Chaitanya appeared on earth for their deliverance. He was also instrumental in confidentially triggering the Antya-lila pastimes of Mahaprabhu.
Vaisesika Prabhu urged the devotees to take to heart the mood and practice of Advaita Acarya:
- Hold classes on Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam at home
- Distribute prasadam
- Chant the holy names in kirtan
- Pray hard
- Be in the mood of the servant of Krishna.
In the evening, Vaisesika Prabhu gave a masterclass on theology and philosophy and expertly tied in the truth of Advaita Acarya and the practice of sankirtan with it.
He presented four assumptions that anyone, even atheists, can accept:
- There is reason
- The world is real
- There are regularities in nature
- There is proportionate causality
Starting with the basic concept of causality, one can cultivate gratitude for our divine source, leading one to the concept of personhood, and ultimately to loving devotion to that person.
The Panca tattva represent the Supreme Personhood of God, and offer a tradition and the simple practice of devotional service that every conditioned soul deserves to have access to.
Our work as sankirtan devotees is now to drink deep the nectar of devotional service, and systematically inundate every town and village with it, making this our life's mission.
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